The Family Nurse; Or, Companion of the Frugal HousewifeA practical guide to caring for the sick, invalid and elderly in the home, and the last of several, popular domestic manuals published by Child. |
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The Family Nurse; Or, Companion of the Frugal Housewife Lydia Maria Francis Child No preview available - 2019 |
Common terms and phrases
acid added applied astringent avoid bath becomes better boiling water bowels bread child cloth cold common considered continue cool covered danger decoction diarrhoea diet discharge disease dissolved doses drachm drink drops effect emetic eruptions feet fever five four freely frequently fresh gill give given grains half hand head heat hour inflammation infusion keep kind laxative leaves less linseed magnesia medicines mild milk minutes mixed molasses months necessary night nurse obtained ointment once operation ounce pain patient person perspiration pint poultice powdered prepared prevent produce purgative quantity quart recommended relief remain remedy removed repeated root rubbed safe salt seed skin sleep soap soft sometimes soon spirits stimulating stirred stomach strain strong sugar sweet sweetened syrup taken taste tea-spoonful throat tonic usually vinegar vomiting warm warm water washed weak
Popular passages
Page 7 - Let those who love to be invalids drink strong green tea, eat pickles, preserves, and rich pastry. As far as possible, eat and sleep at regular hours. Wash the eyes thoroughly in cold water every morning. Do not read or sew at twilight, or by too dazzling a light. If far-sighted, read with rather less light, and with the book somewhat nearer to the eye, than you desire. If near-sighted, read with a book as far off as possible. Both these imperfections may be diminished in this way. Clean...
Page 103 - The medical properties of the Podophyllum peltatum," says Dr. Bigelow, "are those of a sure and active cathartic, in which character it deserves a high rank among our indigenous productions. We have hardly any native plant which answers better the common purposes of jalap, aloes, and rhubarb.
Page 119 - They are usually given in the form of decoction, made by boiling an ounce of the...
Page 85 - Pulverize them; let the myrrh steep in half a pint of brandy, or NE rum, for four days; then add the saffron and aloes; let it stand in the sunshine, or in some warm place, for a fortnight; taking care to shake it well twice a day. At the end of the fortnight, fill up the bottle (a common sized one) with brandy, or NE rum, and let it stand a month.
Page 25 - Stewed Prunes. — Stew them very gently in a small quantity of water, till the stones slip out. Physicians consider them safe nourishment in fevers.
Page 3 - ... intended for the drawing-room, for, written in plain language, "it could not in the very nature of the subject, be otherwise than indelicate, in the world's estimation." Just what Mrs. Child considered indelicate is not apparent to a jaded 20th-century eye. In her preface she stated that the book was "by no means intended to supersede the advice of a physician. It is simply a household friend, which the inexperienced may consult on common occasions, or sudden emergencies, when medical advice...
Page 36 - The author of the Maternal Physician states a curious fact. He says when the process of suckling is very painful to the mother, the milk is sometimes drawn out with sucking-glasses ; if the child is fed with it, a supply will remain in the breast some time ; whereas, if it is thrown away, it will gradually diminish till it ceases.
Page 39 - Lydia Maria Child, a domestic expert, offered a fuller explanation of the laudanum problem: If the nurse have her own child with her, she is naturally tempted to give it a greater proportion of nourishment; if the child be removed, there is the painful consideration of deriving benefit from the privations and sacrifices of another; however conscientious she may be, it is more difficult to perform her duties patiently and well for mere money, than it is from instinct, or feeling; hence the great dangers...
Page 5 - Her modest approach is underlined by the warning with which the text begins: Never meddle with medicines, unless some disorder of the system renders them really necessary. Remember the friendly warning in the epitaph on a old gravestone: "I was well; would be better; took physic; and here I am.
Page 31 - ... viz :—Three quarts unbolted wheat meal; one quart soft water, warm, but not hot; one gill of fresh yeast; one gill of molasses, or not, as may suit the taste; one teaspoonful of saleratus. This will make two loaves, and should remain in the oven at least one hour ; and when taken out, placed where they will cool gradually. Dyspepsia crackers can be made with unbolted flour, water, and saleratus.
Bibliographic information
| Title | The Family Nurse; Or, Companion of the Frugal Housewife Issue 525 of Gerritsen collection of women's history Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO): Women: Transnational Networks |
| Author | Lydia Maria Child |
| Edition | revised |
| Publisher | Hendee, 1837 |
| Original from | Oxford University |
| Digitized | Oct 16, 2006 |
| Length | 156 pages |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |